Amazon Launches New A/B Testing Capability for App Developers

A/B Testing is the latest in a growing list of new services and tools
that enable developers to grow their business using Amazon’s end-to-end
platform for building, monetizing, marketing and distributing their apps
and games

December 06, 2012 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ:AMZN) – Amazon today announced the beta launch of a new, free
A/B Testing capability for Kindle Fire developers. With A/B Testing,
developers can test simultaneous treatments of their apps, receive data
about what’s worked best, and quickly adjust their apps to take
advantage of this customer learning. A/B Testing is the latest developer
service that Amazon has launched (along with Achievements, Leaderboards,
Whispersync across devices, In-App Purchasing, and 1-Click Purchasing)
that make it simpler than ever for app developers to concentrate on the
differentiating parts of their apps rather than the undifferentiated
infrastructure and engagement components. Starting today, developers can
download the A/B Testing beta SDK at: https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/ab-testing.html.

“Apps are living products continuously being updated, modified and
improved, and with millions of potential active users, developers know
that seemingly small changes can have a large impact on customers. Our
A/B Testing service is essential for developers because it will help
offload the overhead costs of building, maintaining and running scalable
tests,” said Mike Frazzini, Director of Amazon Games. “We’ve drawn from
our years of experience conducting and refining our own A/B testing on
Amazon.com to bring developers a testing product that will give them the
capability to perfect their apps, retain customers, and grow their
business.”

“A/B Testing helps us understand exactly what our customers want so we
can offer the best games possible and we think Amazon’s A/B Testing is
going to be an important tool in building great games for customers,”
said Mike Lehne, CTO, Concrete Software. “Amazon has been great to work
with. The team has been responsive, quick, and helped make sure our A/B
testing implementation went smoothly so we could start analyzing results
right away. We think A/B Testing is going to help us make Wordsplosion
even better, something we know our customers are going to be very
excited about.”

“Our team is integrating Amazon’s A/B Testing service and we believe it
will become a key component of our game development process," said Adam
Schroeder, CEO, Difference Games. "We have always wanted to add A/B
testing to our development toolkit but didn’t want the hassle and cost
of running our own service. Amazon’s A/B Testing service is built on AWS
and scales effortlessly so we can spend our time focused on iterating
our games and not running the service.”

A/B Testing is free to all developers and is the latest in a series of
new services and tools that make it even easier for developers to build
their mobile and tablet apps quickly, integrate features to make more
money, and distribute their apps through the Amazon Appstore for Android
and on the growing family of Kindle Fire devices.

“Amazon offers the best end-to-end solution for app and game
developers,” said Aaron Rubenson, Director of Amazon Appstore for
Android. “Developers can use Amazon Web Services’ building blocks as the
infrastructure for their games. To enhance customer engagement, they can
add features like GameCircle’s Leaderboards, Achievements, Friends, and
Whispersync. Amazon’s In-App Purchasing allows developers to generate
additional income. Finally, since discovery can be a major challenge for
app developers, we’re providing more and more ways to help developers
reach customers on Amazon, Kindle Fire devices, and in our Appstore.
We’re working hard to make lives easier for developers, and to give them
more ways to grow their business.”

Recently Added Tools and Features for Developers:

GameCircle (Achievements, Leaderboards, Friends and Whispersync
state across devices) – Amazon GameCircle, which is now available
to all developers, is a set of highly useful services that make it
easier to create more engaging gaming experiences. Developers no
longer have to spend time developing, building, and operating these
services themselves. Rather, GameCircle makes Achievements,
Leaderboards, Friends and Whispersync APIs accessible, simple and
quick for developers to integrate, and will give gamers a more
seamless and entertaining in-game experience. The GameCircle API is
available in the Amazon Mobile App SDK, and for download on the Amazon
Mobile App Distribution Portal.

New Maps API – The new Amazon Maps API is now available to all
developers and makes it easy to integrate mapping functionality into
apps that run on the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD. The Maps API
offers two core features: Interactive Maps, which embed a Map View
enabling customers to pan, zoom and fling around the world, and Custom
Overlays, which allow developers to display the locations of
businesses, landmarks and other points of interest with customized
markers and pins. The Maps API is already being used in popular apps
like Zillow, Hipmunk, Evernote and Trulia.

Test Drive on Kindle Fire – Test Drive enables customers to try
out apps before buying them. Amazon has offered the ability to Test
Drive apps on the web for more than a year, and this popular feature
is now available on the Kindle Fire HD 7”, Kindle Fire HD 8.9” and
Kindle Fire (2nd generation). More than 20,000 apps are
currently Test Drive enabled.

Kindle Fire Emulator – Amazon now offers emulators for Kindle
Fire HD 8.9”, Kindle Fire HD 7", and Kindle Fire so developers can
test and debug their apps even if they don’t have the devices. This
allows developers to be confident that their apps’ user interface,
navigation and flow through the application are functioning as
intended. These emulators also include support for some of the Kindle
Fire unique capabilities such as GameCircle, In-App Purchasing, and
Maps.

Unity Plugins: Amazon recently launched free Unity plugins for
the In-App Purchasing and Amazon GameCircle APIs, making it even
faster and easier for developers using Unity (one of the most popular
tools for building mobile games) to add these features into their
games and apps.

Localization Support – Developers can now localize their apps
by adding marketplace-specific pricing as well as language
translations for their apps, in-app purchasable (IAP) items and
subscriptions.

Developer Forums – The new Developer Forums gives developers a
place to ask questions and have discussions with other developers in
the Mobile App Distribution Program. Developers can find the Forums at https://forums.developer.amazon.com.

Recent Stats and Facts:

App downloads in the Appstore have grown more than 500 percent over
the previous year.

The number of GameCircle enabled games available on Kindle Fire has
more than doubled since the launch of Kindle Fire HD.

Total downloads of the SDKs for In-App Purchasing and GameCircle have
more than doubled since the Kindle Fire HD launch and availability of
the Kindle Fire HD development resources.

The number of developers with In-App Purchasing incorporated in their
apps more than doubled in the third quarter of the year (from the
start of the quarter to the close of the same quarter).

In October, 23 of the top 25 grossing apps used Amazon’s In-App
Purchasing technology.

About Amazon Appstore for Android

The Amazon Appstore for Android is where customers can find, discover
and buy thousands of apps using Amazon’s convenient and trusted shopping
features, including personalized recommendations, customer reviews and
bestseller lists. Customers can access the store directly on Kindle
Fire, from any computer, or on an Android phone or tablet. Amazon
Appstore has a broad selection of paid and free apps and games,
including established bestsellers and new apps from top-tier brands.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle,
opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s
Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most
customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything
they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the
lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of
unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books;
Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home
& Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health &
Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web
Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to
in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end
technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any
type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever
constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented
built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long
battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation
Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved
fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom
high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo
speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support,
dual-antennas and MIMO for faster streaming and downloads, enough
storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics
engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The
large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with 4G wireless, and
comes with a groundbreaking $49.99 introductory 4G LTE data package. The
all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster processor, 40% faster
performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly
from management’s expectations. These forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to
competition, management of growth, new products, services and
technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international
expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center
optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and
strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption,
inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More
information about factors that potentially could
affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included
in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent
filings.